Simon Stead hopped onto the landing of floor seventy-two, navigating his way through the vaguely lit hallways on his night-time watch, completely unaware of neither his impending fate nor the fate of his siblings. The Doctor and Amy were just around the corner, waiting, all the while troubled by the disappearance of Alison.
''We changed too much,'' stated the Doctor. ''We can't change the day too much or for too long or it'll force itself to get back on track.''
''So Alison's… dead?'' asked Amy timidly.
''Amy,'' said the Doctor calmingly, ''she already was. Whatever happened to her has already happened. There was never anything we could do for her except try to get whatever's going on to stop.''
Amy nodded yieldingly. The Doctor saw she was still distressed. ''Come on,'' he said perkily, ''where's the Amy that stole the keys from-''
''From a man who died minutes later,'' Amy interjected with poignant distress
''Well now's your chance to save his memory. For one night and maybe forever,'' said the Doctor, who's seriousness straightaway switched to cheeriness. ''Hats on Amelia Pond, we've got snooping to do!''
Amy seemed to have been cheered up.
''Neither of us have hats,'' she laughed. ''We left all our snooping equipment in the TARDIS, remember?''
''Rule of the universe number eighty-four, you are never more than twelve feet from a hat,'' chirped the Doctor.
''Oh, you just made that up,'' said Amy dubiously. The Doctor opened a nearby storage closet, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around inside.
''Aha!'' he cried when the sonic whirred louder. He pulled out two dusty old hats: a baseball cap and a wintery style woollen one with large dangly earmuffs. He put the baseball hat on his own head and held the other one out for Amy, who looked at it in dismay.
''No way am I wearing that, thank you very much,'' she said snootily.
''Oh, why not?! It's got earflaps! Earflaps are cool,'' said the Doctor, downtrodden.
''Well if they're so cool, you wear it,'' snorted Amy.
''With pleasure,'' said the Doctor complacently. They switched, and the Doctor revelled in his new, cool earmuff hat while Amy shook her head, placing the baseball cap over her
bright red hair. Without warning, feet shuffled along the carpet from the shadows and Amy saw no choice but to grab the Doctor and pull him into the tiny closet.
They uncomfortably squeezed together into the confined space and pulled the door to while Simon passed by. They couldn't risk interfering this time. The Doctor was completely
frozen and Amy was staring, transfixed, at the back of the door. The awkwardness of the tight situation pulled both of their eyelids wide open. Amy cleared her throat.
''Um, while we're here,'' she said. ''Any theories on why we saw that scene with the Reaper guy in the middle of the afternoon? It just played for us, like someone wanted us to see it.''
''At a guess,'' said the Doctor slowly. ''I think we're being led along.''
The scuffling echoed away and they shot out of the cupboard, fixing themselves up in the process and striding away inelegantly after Simon. They crept around the corner and saw him continue rising through the building up the stairs. They tailed him up to the next floor and peeked above the tip of the stairs.
Amy stole onto the landing, careful not to alert Simon to her presence too soon. The Doctor took Amy's lead. What they found when they followed Simon to the elevators was as far from expected as could be. The night-watchman didn't run into the Reaper, but into Daniel Raine, the janitor from the maintenance areas.
He wasn't the same man as they had encountered along with the Raxillion. He was afraid. As afraid as Cole was just before he reached his expiry date. Daniel had just exited one of the elevators. Upon seeing Simon, he sighed with relief and backed up against the now closed elevator doors.
''Jesus, Simon, you scared me,'' he said. ''What the hell are you doing up here?''
''I'm the night-watchman,'' said Simon condescendingly. ''What do you think I'm doing? It's night. I'm watching. What are you running from?''
''Never you mind. I'll attend to my business and you attend to your … looking at things. Alright?''
''I'm afraid that's not alright. Not at all.''
''What the hell are you on about now, Simon?''
''What are you running from,'' Simon's voice switched from cheerful Londoner to aged and chilling and deep, ''Daniel?''
Daniel's eyes widened in dismay at the realisation that Simon was not as he seemed.
''No-,'' he half exhaled and sunk down to the floor, clasping his knees and cowering before the not-so-Simon.
''What, you thought only my self-deluded brother was after you?'' said the mystery man, back to the normal, human voice of the man whose body he was using. ''Well, while he's scurrying about making a big show of things in his cloak, I'm getting things done. Unfortunately, you're next on my to-do list. Unfortunately for you, that is.''
''Please, just let me-AAAHH-'' Daniel managed to let out half a scream before he was strangled by the misty whiplash of Simon's vanished arm and shone like wildfire as his remaining years were sucked away. Simon trembled pugnaciously and soon the new Daniel was looking down on his old, dead self.
''Check,'' he said, his hands miming the writing of a tick on a notepad. The elevator door chimed again and hummed as the doors slid open. Onto the landing stepped Alison, the dregs of her last, scared moments still on her face, slowly ebbing away as the Reaper fought against the personality of his new body.
''Brother!'' cried the newly formed Daniel, his voice still Daniel-like and his youthful composure intact. ''Or at least, I'm assuming from that expression.''
''You shouldn't have done that,'' said the Alison copy with the macabre voice of the Reaper.
''Ooh, and you shouldn't be talking like that in that body,'' rebutted the replica of Daniel. ''Nuh-uh. Learn to embrace your new figure! Absorb the personality, expel the voice! Take on the charm that comes gift wrapped with these marvellous creatures!''
''They are scum. They serve only one purpose for us,'' murmured the Alison-Reaper.
''Yeah, yeah, energy and all that. I have been helping you, you know. I got this outfit just then, you saw,'' said Daniel, stroking his own chest. ''Last one in stock, you know. Ooh, this one's witty. I like him. Oh, and I took out the last of the Steads for you just a few minutes ago, as you can see by my new suit.''
''You were supposed to keep hidden while I sorted things out,'' said the Reaper angrily.
''I know, brother, and I have been. I've only revealed myself to prey. But I couldn't resist having a couple of makeovers, you know? You needed to get rid of this guy anyway,'' he kicked the body lying on the floor between them. ''He was just a pain, wasn't he? Started off useful but-''
''Get back to the ship. Immediately. If I find you exhausting your ability to remain unflinching in your position you will gain a first hand-''
''-meeting with the Reaper's touch, yeah, yeah. I can do it too you know. That little wavy arm trick. Get off your high horse, nobody else has nicknames, Naros.''
''Go, Soran.''
''Alright, alright. Going. But hurry up will you? I only swapped out for that Toby fellow 'because I was getting bored of putting on a night watch charade. Honestly, there's nothing to do around here even if you're staff. If you're not gonna let me have any fun around here at least get a move on getting us out of this place. That idiot Cole, the one that got all the Steads starting to think something was up, have you taken care of him yet?''
''Do not leave the lower deck again while I deal with the traitor,'' said the Reaper, Naros, to his brother Soran, ignoring the latter's side of the conversation. Soran stormed off back to the elevator and nudged the button. Alison's stolen body writhed and squirmed as the smoke took over and the cloak was formed. The Reaper headed on up the stairs and
Soran dragged his lifeless twin into the elevator with him. The doors slid shut.
Amy was speechless. The Doctor's mind was electrified with sparks of thought. Their silence didn't last long, however. A deep, familiar voice startled them from the shadows.
''Do you see now?'' came the sound of the corporeal, present-day Reaper.